E-Newsletter – January 2012

MySuccessCompany.com E-NEWSLETTER
January 2012

This Month’s Selling Principle: We get a lot of stories and articles submitted to us for consideration, and as a rule with virtually all of them, we have taken care to make sure their sources are written clearly on each of them, just in case they get used on our website or in this newsletter.

I am ashamed to admit that this month’s article, as well as next month’s, is that rare exception to that rule. I suspect they were submitted by the same person because they are written in the same font and were paper clipped together but I can’t say for sure. So, if YOU were the kind soul that shared these two great articles with us, and you’d like to get some credit for it, please let one of us here know and we’ll see to it. And even if you don’t want any credit, let me know so I can show you my gratitude again. I hope you enjoy this.

Tips on Negotiating

1) Take the mental position that you are superior at negotiating. You have handled 10, 20, 30, even 100 times more transactions than your customer has.

2) Never attack! Always listen, genuinely, and let them finish. Pause for effect and mental preparation before responding.

3) Always close with an either/or question. A yes or no question will almost always force a no response.

4) Silence is golden! Never break the silence after you close or you have let them off the hook. If you become too uncomfortable stare at the bridge of their nose. they will think you are looking them dead in the eye.

5) If you break the silence for any reason, you must assume the sale (usually with an action close) or try; “My Mother always told me silence was consent, was she right?” then be silent again.

6) Abolish FEAR. It is, False Expectations Appearing Real. Fear has no place in your mind or heart. the worse case scenario is you end up where you started out before you met this person.

7) Be aware of body language. Watch and observe. be aware of the signals YOU put out. Is this customer thinking you NEED this sale? If so, watch your gross profit go down, or lose the sale altogether. don’t come across as uptight, nervous, or afraid. Your customer can read this and will take advantage of you. Learn their buying signals. Are they squirming? Arms Crossed? Looking back and forth at each other? Sweating, red in the face?

8) Remember, you are doing them a favor! you are simply helping them bring the transaction to finality. You helped them outside and they need help taking ownership. If you don’t help them, someone else, somewhere else will. And then your customer has to go through the whole process again, and that’s not helping them. Wouldn’t that be more pressure having to go through the buying process twice?

9) Know how payments, down payment, and “out the door” works. If your customer is making a ridiculous offer, you need to know it is and politely tell them so. Make sure your reasoning and math skills are sharp.

10) Identify their true objection. Too often we close on the wrong objection, win the battle but lose the war. Clarify, clarify, clarify!!

11) Know at least 10 closes, frontward and backward so you can continue to ask for the sale without repeating yourself.

12) In the immortal words of Harvey Mc Kay, “NEVER say NO for the other guy!” it doesn’t matter how you feel, it matters how they feel. many deals are killed before the salesperson says their first word. In their mind it doesn’t work, so guess what? It doesn’t.

13) Never ask, “What do you think?” BAM! you are dead. You just killed all the momentum you had built up. if you have to ask a question like that, ask, “How do you feel?” Invoke emotion, not logic. A person buys emotionally and defends it logically.

14) If they are still sitting there, they want to buy. If you think about it, no one gets up and leaves without your permission. Either verbally or physiologically. People don’t want to be rude, they need permission to leave, and it is okay to give it to them as long as they go through F&I first.

15) Effectively use a re-direct or sharp angle close. When the customer asks a question like, “What would the payments be at 36 months?” you need to ask, “Do you want 36 months? or, “So, at 36 months you want to proceed? Am I right?”

16) Look at negotiating as mere problem solving. you are trying to create a win – win situation for both you and your customer. Just keep moving the variables around until everything falls into place. You must believe in yourself, before the customer can believe in you. You are the reason that they can drive home in something they want. People don’t hate negotiating, they hate negotiating with an amateur on an expensive product.

17) Have empathy not sympathy. they aren’t here to see Mother Teresa, they are here to be gently led to a vehicle and budget resolution that is palatable for them.

18) Above all, know you have the right intentions, are a good person, you belong in sales, have had Hundreds of hours of training, and no one more capable could be helping them than you!
Until the next time, be well, do good work, and keep in touch!
Michael D. Hargrovemhargrove@bluinc.com

“If you want to achieve something that has always eluded you, for this day act as if it were already here.”Dr. Wayne W. DyerObjection of the Month: “This is the first place we’ve shopped.”

These are just a few of the most common strategies shared at the workshops we’ve conducted all across North America and attended by thousands of the top sales people in our field. Please keep in mind that nothing works all the time, and no one thing will work for everybody. Each of these strategies, of course, need to be tailored to the individual user, to the specific customer, and the particular situation. Also, this is by no means the definitive work on overcoming this particular objection and it’s not intended to be.

a. “Well, let’s see if we can’t make it the last place too!”

b. “Why did you pick this place first?” then, “Why else?” and again, “Any other reasons you chose us first?” Then finally, “Those all sound good reasons to do business with someone, don’t they?”

c. “Isn’t funny how our first instincts are usually the best?”

d. “All new cars are a heck of a lot of money, aren’t they? Too much money for anyone to settle for their second choice, don’t you agree? Well, let’s make sure you won’t have to “

e. “Thank you very much for choosing us first!”

f. “You’ve found the right car, in the right color, with all the right equipment and at the premiere dealership in the city. All that and we got it to fit within your budget too! Are you always this lucky? Let’s put this shopping chore behind you so you can start to enjoy your new car!”

g. “This car is very expensive, isn’t it? Actually, all new cars are lots of money, aren’t they? You know Mr. Customer, they’re too much money for you to have to settle for your second choice, wouldn’t you agree? Well, this must be your first choice since you shopped here first. So, let’s put this thing to rest shall we?”

h. “So, for all practical purposes, this car fits you perfectly, right? You just need to look around to satisfy your curiosity. Mr. Customer, it sounds like you’re simply having trouble accepting the fact that you fell in love on the first date, am I right? Love at first sight DOES happen and usually it turns out to be a great romance. This one will be too. Now, press hard, you’re going through four copies!”

i.“Whether it’s the first or last place you shop, your decision comes down to three basic questions, may I share them with you? (Wait for their answer) “Number one, does this vehicle give you what you want?” (Wait for their answer) “Number two, can you afford it?” (Wait for their answer) “Number three, am I the kind of person you want to help you with this decision and to support you through the entire ownership experience?” (Wait for their answer) “Since you’ve answered yes to all three, I just need your okay right here.”

Next month’s objection will be: “I need to shop other cars first.” We need YOUR input! Please forward your ideas on this one, or your suggestions on which objection to cover next, to editor@bluinc.com.

“I only play well when I’m prepared. If I don’t practice the way I should, then I won’t play the way I know I can.” Ivan Lendl

On SuccessJuggle BallsWritten by a past CEO of Coca-Cola:

“Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them – work, family, health, friends and spirit and you’re keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls – family, health, friends and spirit are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life.
How?

1) Don’t undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others. It is because we are different that each of us is special.

2) Don’t set your goals by what other people deem important. Only you know what is best for you.

3) Don’t take for granted the things closest to your heart. Cling to them as you would your life, for without them, life is meaningless.

4) Don’t let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past or for the future. By living your life one day at a time, you live ALL the days of your life.

5) Don’t give up when you still have something to give. Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying.

6) Don’t be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect. It is this fragile thread that binds us each together.

7) Don’t be afraid to encounter risks. It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave.

8) Don’t shut love out of your life by saying it’s impossible to find. The quickest way to receive love is to give; the fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly; and the best way to keep love is to give it wings.

9) Don’t run through life so fast that you forget not only where you’ve been, but also where you are going.

10) Don’t forget that a person’s greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated.

11) Don’t be afraid to learn. Knowledge is weightless, a treasure you can always carry easily.

12) Don’t use time or words carelessly. Neither can be retrieved. Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored each step of the way.

Just For FunNo matter what one believes, or what faith one holds dear, this 8 year old’s homework assignment is too precious not to appreciate. I hope you enjoy it.
Editor

How To Explain Godby Danny Dutton, age 8, from Chula Vista, California, for his third grade class

One of God’s main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones that die so there will be enough people to take care of things on earth. He doesn’t make grown-ups, just babies. I think because they are smaller and easier to make. That way He doesn’t have to take up His valuable time teaching them to talk and walk. He can just leave that to mothers and fathers.

God’s second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of this goes on, since some people, like preachers and things, pray at times besides bedtime. God doesn’t have time to listen to the radio or TV because of this. Because He hears everything, there must be a terrible lot of noise in His ears, unless He has thought of a way to turn it off. God sees everything and hears everything and is everywhere which keeps Him pretty busy. So you shouldn’t go wasting His time by going over your mom and dad’s head asking for something they said you couldn’t have.

Atheists are people who don’t believe in God. I don’t think there are any in Chula Vista. At least there aren’t any who come to our church.

Jesus is God’s Son. He used to do all the hard work like walking on water and performing miracles and trying to teach the people who didn’t want to learn about God. They finally got tired of Him preaching to them and they crucified Him. But He was good and kind, like His Father and He told His Father that they didn’t know what they were doing and to forgive them and God said O.K.

His Dad (God) appreciated everything that He had done and all His hard work on earth so He told Him He didn’t have to go out on the road anymore. He could stay in heaven. So He did. And now He helps His Dad out by listening to prayers and seeing things which are important for God to take care of and which ones He can take care of Himself without having to bother God. Like a secretary, only more important.

You can pray anytime you want and they are sure to help you because they got it worked out so one of them is on duty all the time.

You should always go to Church on Sunday because it makes God happy, and if there’s anybody you want to make happy, it’s God. Don’t skip church to do something you think will be more fun like going to the beach. This is wrong. And besides the sun doesn’t come out at the beach until noon anyway.

If you don’t believe in God, besides being an atheist, you will be very lonely, because your parents can’t go everywhere with you, like to camp, but God can. It is good to know He’s around you when you’re scared in the dark or when you can’t swim and you get thrown into real deep water by big kids.

But you shouldn’t just always think of what God can do for you. I figure God put me here and He can take me back anytime He pleases.

And that’s why I believe in God.

“The great man is he who does not lose his childlike heart.”Mencius

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“No matter how many times I attend Michael Hargrove’s seminars, I come away with more than I came with. Not only more knowledge and skills but with more sense of purpose and reasons to lead a more productive and meaningful life.”David C. Coquillette, Salesman – Mercedes Benz of Fresno

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